


Best Laid Plans

by lovetheblazer



Series: The Every Breath You Take 'Verse [5]
Category: Glee
Genre: Asthma, Blangst, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Klaine, M/M, Married Couple, Sickfic, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 17:49:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6019444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovetheblazer/pseuds/lovetheblazer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt and Blaine's Valentine's Day plans go awry thanks to an ongoing illness and Blaine’s asthma. Inspired by <a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbMoAz4WAAEZBif.jpg:large">this Valentine</a> found on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best Laid Plans

February 13th winds up being one of the longest nights of Kurt’s life in recent memory.

It starts at the beginning of February with a nasty cold that sends Kurt home early from rehearsals and lays him low for the entire weekend. Blaine plays the dutiful caregiver despite Kurt’s protests, fetching cough drops, orange juice, tissues, and soup as needed, and snuggling with him on the couch. Unsurprisingly, Blaine comes down with the same cold a few days later and just can’t seem to shake it.

It’s one of the most frustrating parts of Blaine having asthma - the fact that any small cold or respiratory infection is liable to turn into a full-blown medical crisis in the blink of an eye. Kurt’s honestly lost count of the number of times Blaine’s been diagnosed with asthmatic bronchitis or pneumonia since they first met. Short of keeping Blaine in a sterile bubble throughout cold and flu season, he’s doesn’t know how to fix that.

Still, few things fill Kurt with more dread than coming home from work to find Blaine curled up in bed, hacking and wheezing and obviously struggling for every breath. It just never gets easier to see his husband suffering. If anything, it’s only gotten harder over time because Kurt’s very aware of how sick Blaine can get, knows how he can be fine one moment and need an ambulance the next.

Kurt is across their small bedroom in a flash. “Honey, you sound _awful_. How long have you been like this? Where’s your inhaler?”

Blaine extends a shaking hand, gesturing towards the inhaler he’s gripping tight in his fist.

“You’ve already used it?” Kurt confirms, reaching out to feel Blaine’s forehead and cheeks in turn. Blaine feels too warm for their drafty room; Kurt suspects he’s running a fever.

Blaine nods his head in reply.

“How many times?”

Blaine shrugs helplessly. “A lot,” he says in a hoarse voice between barking coughs. “Lost - count.”

“Yeah okay, we’re going to the hospital,” Kurt tells him evenly, trying to project an air of calm. He’s not sure how successful he is at it, though.

“No,” Blaine manages, shaking his head wildly. “We’ve - got plans.”

“We can always go see Deadpool another night,” Kurt huffs in exasperation. It’s hardly the end of the world to cancel a movie date, after all. They haven’t even bought their tickets yet.

“Tomorrow - I mean,” Blaine gasps. “It’s Valentine’s - Day.” As soon as he finishes the sentence, he’s wheezing again, eyes watering with the effort it takes to force air into his lungs.

“All the more reason to get you taken care of and better tonight,” Kurt points out as he plucks Blaine’s loafers off the floor by the bed and puts them back on his feet. “That way you can be feeling better by then, right?” The reality is that Kurt doesn’t give a damn about their Valentine’s Day plans at the moment. His one and only priority is improving Blaine’s breathing and getting rid of the infection that seems to be making him so sick, but it seems like Blaine cares about their holiday plans and Kurt is willing to say whatever it takes to convince Blaine to see a doctor as soon as possible.

“Hate hospitals,” Blaine moans, looking wary but defeated.

Kurt nods. “I know you do, baby. I wish we had another option, but...” He finds Blaine’s jacket tossed over the back of the desk chair and starts helping him into it. “Oh wait, what time is it?” he asks, craning his neck to see the alarm clock beside the bed. It reads 5:38 pm.

“So, I’ve got good news,” he announces to Blaine. “I’m pretty sure the urgent care center that just opened a few blocks away stays open until at least 10 pm, so we could probably go there instead of the ER, if you’d prefer?”

“Please,” Blaine pants.

Kurt loops Blaine’s arm over his shoulder and helps him to his feet. “Urgent care center it is, then. You just have to make it to the elevator and then we’ll get you into a cab, okay? Hang in there.”

* * *

An hour later, Blaine’s receiving IV antibiotics and steroids, oxygen, and a nebulizer that’s delivering three different types of asthma medication to Blaine’s airways. The tentative diagnosis is walking pneumonia complicated by an asthma exacerbation. Kurt feels awful that he didn’t see the signs of how sick Blaine was getting sooner. He’d been so wrapped up in prepping for his play which opens in a few weeks that he hadn’t stayed on top of Blaine about his nasty cough. Sure, he’d encouraged Blaine to make an appointment with his doctor, but knowing Blaine’s workaholic nature and tendency to ignore his health in times of stress, he probably should have followed up and kept pestering him until he actually went.

“How are you feeling, honey?” Kurt asks Blaine for the hundredth time, reaching over to brush a curl from Blaine’s forehead.

“M’fine,” Blaine rasps, eyes only opening to half mast. “You don’t have to keep worrying about me.”

“I’m your husband, silly. Worrying about you is kind of my job,” Kurt points out.

“Guess so,” Blaine manages, then turns his head to cough. Kurt can hear the rattling in his chest and winces in sympathy.

“Ow,” Blaine moans, rubbing his sternum once the coughing jag ends.

“Ugh, that sounds painful,” Kurt sympathizes. He picks up Blaine’s hand and squeezes it. “Do you want me to ask the nurse for some cough medicine?”

Blaine shakes his head and sinks back against the pillows piled behind him on the gurney, utterly spent. “I’m sure they’ll give me a prescription for some when we go home,” he murmurs in a hoarse voice.

“So, you’re planning on being totally miserable in the meantime?” Kurt sighs. “That seems... _unnecessary_ at best, if not just plain stupid.”

“Hopefully we’ll be leaving soon,” Blaine protests. “I’m really ready to sleep in my own bed.”

Kurt strokes Blaine’s hair, earning an appreciative hum. “Hey now, I think it’s _our_ bed,” he teases.

“I know... always sleep better with you in it,” Blaine slurs, eyes fluttering closed again.

“How about you get a head start on that sleep, okay?” Kurt encourages, leaning over to plant a soft kiss on Blaine’s forehead.

“You’ll be here when I wake up?” Blaine checks, voice barely above a whisper.

“Of course I will,” Kurt vows, squeezing Blaine’s hand reassuringly.

Blaine doesn’t reply, because he’s already asleep.

* * *

It turns out that Kurt had been wrong about the time the urgent care center closed; instead of 10 pm, it’s open until midnight on the weekends. The doctor winds up keeping Blaine there until closing time, wanting to administer a full dose of antibiotics and steroids and monitor his breathing to ensure it’s stabilized before he’s willing to release Blaine. Kurt leaves the center with three pages of prescriptions to be filled and a husband who’s practically asleep on his feet. By the time the medications are finally filled by the pharmacy and Kurt gets Blaine home, it’s nearing 1 am.

Both Kurt and Blaine are ready to collapse into bed and sleep for a week, though that’s complicated by the strict instructions that they’ve received from the doctor.

Blaine’s been prescribed three different medications that need to be administered by nebulizer every four, six, and eight hours, respectively. That means that even though all Kurt wants to do is curl up next to his husband and sleep for at least eight hours, instead he has to set up the nebulizer at Blaine’s bedside and set alarms to wake him at 4 am, 6 am, and 8 am so that he can give Blaine his medications.

It’s a long, miserable night.

* * *

It’s almost 11 am before Blaine wakes up properly, still bleary eyed as he staggers out to the living room and finds Kurt sprawled on the couch.

“Hey there,” Kurt greets him warmly. “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

“Oh...” Blaine trails off, looking surprised. “I almost forgot what day it was for a minute, but happy Valentine’s Day to you too.”

“Totally understandable. You had a long night,” Kurt points out. He stands and shoos Blaine over to the couch, wrapping a chenille throw around Blaine’s shoulders when he sees Blaine shivering. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

“Okay, I guess,” Blaine manages half-heartedly. “Just tired, mainly.”

“No kidding. It definitely was a rough night.”

“Sorry,” Blaine apologizes, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. “Did I keep you awake with my coughing?”

“Um, no, that wasn’t the issue,” Kurt manages. “Do you not remember me giving you all those nebulizers in the middle of the night?”

“Wait, you did?” Blaine gasps. “How did I sleep through that?”

Kurt just laughs, shaking his head. “Man, that must have been some good cough medicine the doctors prescribed.”

“Yeah,” Blaine giggles. “It was definitely a trip. I slept like a rock, though the dreams I had were... _interesting_ , to say the least.”

“I bet.” Kurt grins, settling his cheek against Blaine’s hair.

“I’m sorry you had to do all that, though,” Blaine apologizes. “You must be exhausted.”

“Eh, I’ll live,” Kurt says, waving off the concern. “Besides, we’ve got a whole lot of nothing planned for today, so I can always nap later if necessary.”

“Wait, I thought today was Valentine’s Day?” Blaine checks. “We have reservations at Cafe Moto and tickets to Something Rotten tonight, remember?”

“Yeah no, I just canceled them. Rachel and Jesse are going to buy our Something Rotten tickets at face value and I moved our restaurant reservations back by two weeks,” Kurt patiently explains.

“But... Kurt,” Blaine whines. “It’s Valentine’s Day. We were supposed to celebrate.” Kurt lifts his head to peer down at his husband, sighing when he sees Blaine’s eyes welling up with tears.

Kurt gets it, he really does. They’ve been on a tight budget lately, forgoing nights out, frequent takeout orders, and expensive gifts in favor of saving for a deposit on a larger apartment. The one they have is fine, if a bit... cozy for the two of them, but now that they’re seriously discussing starting a family, a larger apartment in a good school district is a must have before they can explore adoption or surrogacy. Valentine’s Day is something they’ve been looking forward to for _months_ , having decided against purchasing big gifts for one another in favor of treating themselves to a nice meal at a gourmet restaurant and tickets to a Broadway show.

“Honey, your health has to come first. You heard what the doctor said yesterday - you need to rest and take it easy for the foreseeable future. Besides, it’s freezing out there and you know how the cold weather tends to aggravate your asthma. Once you’re feeling better, we can redo the romantic night we planned on, okay? It’ll be even better then, because we won’t have to deal with the holiday crush of people where it takes us thirty minutes to even get a taxi,” Kurt tells Blaine.

“But you’re not mad? Or disappointed?” Blaine wonders aloud, biting his lip.

“At you? Of course I’m not,” Kurt rushes to reassure, cupping Blaine’s cheek and stroking across his cheekbone gently with the pad of his thumb. “It’s not your fault you’re sick. If anything it’s _my_ fault, since I’m the one who gave you the cold that got you sick in the first place.”

Blaine huffs out a tiny laugh. “Nah, that’s on me. I was the stubborn one who insisted on cuddling and kissing, even though I knew you were all germy and sick.”

“That’s true,” Kurt teases, thinking back fondly to the many hours spent with his head in Blaine’s lap on the couch, alternatively dozing and watching trashy reality shows while flying high on cold medicine.

“I love you,” Blaine breathes, eyes wide with gratitude. “Thanks for being so understanding.”

Kurt smiles softly, then bends to kiss Blaine’s forehead. “I love you, too. Are you hungry? I made crepes.”

Blaine groans appreciatively. “God, now I _really_ love you. Crepes sound delicious and I’m starving, actually.”

“Probably from the steroids. They always tend to ramp up your appetite.” Kurt stands and retrieves the container of crepes from the fridge and a bowl of mixed berry topping and starts to make up a plate for Blaine.

“Oh yeah, good point. That’s probably it,” Blaine agrees. He stretches his arms overhead and then yawns loudly.

Kurt microwaves the crepes and pours a glass of orange juice for Blaine while it’s heating up. Once the microwave beeps, he removes the crepes and adds some Nutella and berries to the plate. He carries it all over along with a napkin and sets it on the coffee table in front of Blaine.

“Breakfast is served,” he announces since Blaine’s occupied with something on his phone. “What are you looking at?” he asks curiously.

“I’ve got a Valentine for you,” Blaine replies, mouth quirking up into a half smile. “It’s an eValentine though, so I’ll have to show it to you on my phone.”

“...okay?” Kurt shrugs helplessly. “If you say so.”

“Here,” Blaine says, passing his phone over to Kurt.

Kurt stares down at the smartphone screen, snorting at what he sees.

Kurt giggles helplessly, shaking his head.

“You like it?” Blaine asks, laughing along with his husband.

“It’s perfect,” Kurt chuckles. “Where the hell did you find it?”

“Oh you know, the usual: the internet,” Blaine reports, shrugging. “It seemed applicable.”

“Very,” Kurt agrees. “I just have one critique.”

“Oh?” Blaine asks, raising an eyebrow curiously. “What’s that?”

“Well, if you can remember way back to our Dalton days, I believe that was _my_ line,” Kurt points out wryly. “I said it first.”

“I could never forget that day,” Blaine murmurs wistfully. “I’ll make you a deal.”

“Hmm?”

“How about from now on, it can be _our_ line?” Blaine suggests.

Kurt extends his hand to shake. “It’s a deal.”

“Awesome. You know, in some cultures, it’s customary to seal a pact or deal with a kiss instead of a handshake...” Blaine remarks, trying to sound casual.

“Is that so?” Kurt grins, leaning in. “Well, guess we better kiss, then. Clearly, we’ve got no other choice.”

“None at all,” Blaine hums, just as his lips brush Kurt’s.

It’s not the most exciting Valentine’s Day they’ve ever had as a couple, but in the end, it’s exactly what they both need.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope your Valentine's Day went better than poor Kurt and Blaine's. Thanks for reading! As always, I'd love to hear what you think of the story if you feel so inclined to share ;)
> 
> [Share Fic on Tumblr](http://lovetheblazer.tumblr.com/post/139342739155/best-laid-plans)


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